Saturday, October 13, 2007

We survived are back from our week-long vacation to Monterey and San Francisco. There is nothing more relaxing than being trapped in a car driving for five hours with a 13-month old and a two and a half-year old. The one continuous thought I had running through my head the entire week was that if this vacation doesn't kill me it will be a miracle.

From the incessant I want Raffi! I want Raffi! to the random screeches from my son who wanted out of his carseat I thought my ears were going to start bleeding.

But, isn't this what childhood is all about? Our parents dragging us from one locale to another telling us how much fun we are having? Dad white-knuckling the steering wheel and mom quietly sobbing into her Starbucks latte--Look at the beautiful scenery, kids.

These are the moments we treasure.

Actually, it was not all horrible. We will get the pictures printed and put into scrapbooks. We will selectively filter out the stress and headaches and completely ignore the fact that we blew out the shredder getting rid of the mountains of receipts from all the crap we bought along the way. We will remember the oohs and aahs of the new things the kids encountered and it will bring a warm fuzzy glow to our hearts.

Contributors

Limning

There is a lot of stupidity in this world, and I have about had enough. I have a lot to say and in all fairness to those who know and love me, I am putting it all right here. I have another blog that is just for my regular family and friends. Pictures of the kids, sweet little paragraphs detailing their activities and the like. THIS blog is for me. Not my kids, not my parents. This is where we get to the meat of the matter. I am tired of smiling in the face of people and thinking WHAT THE FUCK? I know that I do not think or believe the way many of the sheep out there seem to. This blog proves it.

Gears and Cogs

Our Attempts At A Green Lifestyle:

We try to use cloth napkins or kitchen towels instead of paper towels when we clean up

I switched to a smaller coffee maker. There is less wasted coffee, there is a shorter brew time, and it therefore uses less engergy

We attempt to grow plants

I use a menstrual cup. Safer for me, cleaner for the environment

We get lots of hand-me-down toys and clothes and we pass everything along

We use FreeCycle and shop at thrift shops

I breastfed each child

My husband walks to work when he can

Instead of clay litter, we use cat sand made from wheat. Also from pine. In a happy accident, we found that by combining the two, we get better clumpage, less smell, and do not worry if the kids end up with a little in their mouths

We unplug other appliances like coffee makers, etc.

We have our media on the wall switch and turn it off at night. That makes SEVEN appliances that are turned off--not just on standby